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Integration with Ship Automation and Asset Management Systems
No longer are the modern ships a disparate group of electrical and mechanical devices. They have evolved into a buoyant Internet-of-Things network with engines, navigational systems, power generation units and cargo handling gear monitored, controlled and optimized around the clock by unified automation systems. The true competitive edge for owners and operators is no longer in supplying high quality marine equipment, it’s in enabling even corrosion protection systems and heat exchangers to communicate with the heart of the vessel. It’s at this juncture that SME Group provides a powerful link between proven marine hardware and smarter fleet management.
Real-Time Condition Monitoring for ICCP and MGPS
The reliability of SME’s ICCP and MGPS systems for guarding hulls, sea chests and pipework from corrosion and bio-fouling has always been renowned but these systems become invaluable when integrated with the ship’s automation. Integrating ICCP and MGPS controllers with vessel’s alarm monitoring and data logging systems provides operators with:
This allows proactive alerts, such as when the ICC Ploss becomes shallower due to anode or coating degradation or an anomalous MGPS signal, which could be due to variations in the seawater’s salinity or accumulation of fouling. This automation logs all this data continuously and produces trending reports, rather than the weekly recorded logs from the original set up, to provide pre-programmed alarms when a unit’s performance drops prior to total failure. For a technical superintendent overseeing many ships, this can all be collected into a remote asset management portal back ashore, allowing condition based maintenance plans and preventing a costly surprise in the dry dock.
Digital Logging and Performance Analytics for SED and PHE
Machine protection for your ship comes in the shape of SME’s Shaft Earthing Devices (SEDs) and Plate Heat Exchangers (PHEs), neither of which, conventionally, are considered too sophisticated, ‘fit-and-forget’ equipment. This all changes when they become a part of your ship’s asset and automation infrastructure, though. For, as modern SEDs often have a digital connection built into them they have the capacity to send out live data – regarding bearing resistance, leakage currents and shaft voltage – which can be integrated to the main automation system. The main control room will be alerted to any signs of excessive bearing wear, of a potential static build up that could damage equipment, or of insulation breaks before you could even begin to notice through vibrations or an unusual rise in temperature.
In a similar fashion, fouling factor, flow rates and temperature differences directly affect PHE performance. By connecting PHE sensors to the automation system, technicians and operators are able to get a real-time calculation of thermal efficiency and compare it to baseline commission data. A decline in the heat transfer coefficient may activate a cleaning notification while an abrupt deviation in pressure can alert them to gasket and/or plate fatigue. The digital logs offer an asset manager comprehensive historic performance curves, assists in the evaluation of warranty claims and supports spare parts purchasing based on factual, historical data on the same system used to monitor the main engine and auxiliary systems.
Centralized Alarm Handling and Maintenance Workflow Optimization
Managing a lot of stand-alone alarm panels is one of the biggest day-to-day operational issues on a vessel. SME overcomes this problem by enabling all of our systems, from ICCP to MGPS, SED to PHE, to integrate directly into the ship's overall alarm system using industry standard communications (Modbus, CAN bus, or Ethernet/IP). No more distributed buzzers, just all alarms in one place, time-stamped, prioritized and even providing troubleshooting assistance on the bridge/engine room monitors.
Maintenance Processes Are Automated It isn’t just alarms that the integration addresses; it helps automate many maintenance tasks too. If the SED grounding resistance is measured to drift beyond the spec value, the automation system can automatically create a work order in the vessel's Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS), noting the appropriate spare part that should be fitted (e.g., spare brushes or the monitoring module) from onboard stock. Similarly, if the PHEs efficiency has a noticeable decrease it could initiate a cleaning task that will automatically load the step by step instructions along with which service it last had recorded. SME help shipowners to integrate the platform into this environment by supplying interface documentation, parameter mapping tables, and remote technical assistance.
Data-Driven Spare Parts Management and Long-Term Fleet Planning
At its most expansive level of integration, SME Group integrates data beyond the ship to the entire fleet. Although SME’s annual consumption data from their spares inventory-across over a thousand ships-provides an impressive database, its true value is in coupling it with operational data from automated equipment. When a fleet manager examines patterns in use data-ICC P anode replacement rate, MGPS electrode wear life, SED brush life, PHE gasket change rates-they gain insight on how performance compares across sister ships, and best operation and maintenance practices.
What's more, as the automation system records every item of SME equipment’s running hours and load profiles, this is fed into our long-term forecasting of the asset’s lifecycle, informing the operator of when a heavy overhaul will be needed, streamlining bulk spare parts procurement and optimizing service contracts with repair yards. Together with our worldwide service network and our 5,000sqm workshop facility in Nantong, we are perfectly positioned to respond to these data-led indicators with swift parts supply and technical support at customer sites and worldwide shipyards, particularly across mainland China. Put simply, integration is not about technology for the sake of it, it is about transforming data into actionable intelligence, minimizing operational costs and ensuring our customers have complete peace of mind when their vessels are out at sea.